“Three years is too short a term,” Mr. Rajan said according to the parliamentarian, who was at the meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance.

The parliamentarian said that Mr. Rajan said the U.S. and other countries allow their central bank chiefs a longer period to implement change.

A spokeswoman for the RBI declined to comment on the remarks.

Mr. Rajan announced that he would return to academia when his three years was up.

The 53-year-old, who had spent much of his career at the University of Chicago before joining the Indian government as an adviser in 2012, won plaudits from economists for boosting the independence of the central bank and focusing on curbing India’s chronically high inflation.

But those same traits at times put him at odds with some members of Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has deep roots in Hindu nationalism, who questioned his patriotism and lambasted him for not moving more quickly to cut interest rates.

During the meeting Thursday, Mr. Rajan also briefed parliamentarians on the steps taken by the central bank to contain inflation and clean up the books of state-run lenders.

“The governor told us that he was given a mandate to contain inflation, which he did successfully,” the parliamentarian, who didn’t wish to be identified, said.

The governor also told the panel, headed by former minister from the Congress Party, M Veerappa Moily, that those seeking frequent lowering of interest rates should take into account the concerns over inflation, the lawmaker said. Mr. Moily declined to comment.